Separated
by Pandonetho
Summary: PFC Kevin Woodward and his squad board an allied, but busted Dominion battlecruiser with two other squads. They split up, and Kevin's squad is funneled deeper into the ship as they desperately try to escape the horrors that are trying to kill them.


_Disclaimer- All of this stuff (except the names) belongs to Blizzard; I'm just making a story out of it. All the character names belong to the game Hotel Dusk. I just used them because I like them._

_Author's note- Here's something I was inspired to write after seeing the game dead space for the 360, I thought it fit the universe of Starcraft well, so I used the same idea as the game._

A low hum resonated through the neosteel bulwark that was the Dominion battlecruiser, respectively named the Hawkjaw. After twenty six years of service, the old Behemoth class cruiser was finally retrofitted with the newest most up to date Minotaur class Dominion batteries, shields, and upgrades. The highly respected and renowned flagship was dedicatedly repainted a mix of red and yellow. It was the first ship to be hybrid mixed, retaining the old Behemoth class design while possessing the latest in Minotaur class technology; this includes the highly destructive power of the plasma torpedoes which saturate the ground in flames and destruction, as well as the fear inspiring ability to unleash a macross missile massacre. To top it all off, it was installed with extra energy reserve tanks, allowing it to fire the Yamato cannon twice in succession. The giant craft had participated in over fifty major space battles, recording over three hundred confirmed kills. Having around a standard population capacity of approximately a thousand troops, as well as acquiring the new warp drive engines capable of warp 9.8 speeds, the newly refined beauty was ready to patrol the vast boundaries of Dominion space once more. The internal hangars of the warship held sixty wraith fighters, which outclassed the new Viking models in speed and handling. Since the Hawkjaw was never meant for entering planetary atmospheres, it was deemed unnecessary to update the hangar with the new Vikings, which had power and versatility superiority over the wraith models.

Not only was the battlecruiser massively overhauled, it was also privileged in being stocked with one thousand apocalypse class nuclear warheads. As a last resort or direct order, the battlecruiser had the ability to completely annihilate the life from any decently sized planet, glassing the entire surface. However, this method of destroying life on a planet was proven to be unorthodox and unwieldy against the Zerg, which had hives burrowed deep within the ground. It was more conventional in wiping out Terran colonies which were deemed too much of a hazard to continue existing.

As the battlecruiser floated leisurely in no particular direction, it passed a relatively small moon. The moon was one of five which belonged to a not yet colonized fringe water world aptly named Oceanic. There was a star shining directly over the Hawkjaw, which revealed the rocky surface of the moon. The other side was completely black.

Private first class, Kevin Woodward, lay on his bunk. He rested his head on his arms as he stared at the grey and boring interior of the ship. Rooms in the ship were separated by squad, and it was a good hour, so Woodward and his six squad members relaxed. Squad sergeant Martin Summers was sitting on the floor, playing some cards with Private Jeff Angel, and Corporal Rosa Fox, who was the squad's medic. Underneath Woodward was Private Robert Evans, bouncing a ball redundantly against the bottom of Kevin's bunk.

Evans broke the relative silence of the room, and gained the attention of his squad mates, "Hey… uh, where'd Dunning go?"

Sergeant Summers replied, "Private Smith went to get himself some food in the cafeteria, he'll be back shortly"

"Oh… cool."

"_Damn, I've never been so bored in my life"_ Woodward thought to himself.

There was the occasional shuffling of cards, and murmuring of swears as one player lost to the next. Woodward sat up, just as the door slid open and Private Dunning Smith walked into the room, arms holding a few standard rations.

"Let's eat guys, I'm fuckin' starving"

As Smith sat down, and was just about to tear open the packaging of the rations, an intercom shouted out, "Nile squad, report to the briefing center immediately!"

Smith was pissed, "The fuck is going on here?"

Woodward rubbed his face, "Shit, what's going down?"

"Shit! Guys, come here, look!" one of the squad members shouted as he stared out a small circular Plexiglas window. More chatter filled the room as the men gathered around the small window.

The serviced Hawkjaw had drifted around to the darker side of the moon, it had multiple high beams shining through the vacuum of space, and they all focused on one large object: a second Dominion Cruiser. It was floating around in dead space. All lights were shut down, and it was nearly invisible in the blackness.

Woodward spoke out in the now silent room, "Holy shit… that thing looks _broke_. I wonder what the hell happened to it."

Sergeant Summers replied, "It certainly looks undamaged from the exterior, but it's completely shut down. It looks like the life support is dead too. Whatever the cause, the Captain wants us briefed, move it boys. I don't know what's going on, but we just might find out…"

The members of Nile squad started to file out of the room, to head towards the briefing center. Rosa left a question hanging in the air, "Maybe it got boarded?"

Jeff answered, as the last one to exit the room, "Boarded by what? Who the hell in hell would board a battlecruiser and leave it completely in tact, but waste everything inside, just to leave again?"

Evans chimed in, "Dunno man, I guess it certainly ain't human; well, whatever the fuck it is, it's probably the fuckin' Zerg. This is gonna be a pain in the ass to clean up. I wonder why the Zerg would board a cruiser though… they could still be in it, if it's even them."

Summers silenced everyone, "Alright, shut it people, let's move it, cut the chit chat."

As they approached the briefing center, Woodward made note of a few other squads as they headed to the same room. He saw the members from squad Foxtrot, as well as men from a more senior squad, Juno. They all reached the large doors, and let them slide aside easily as a low hiss was let out. The men crowded into the room.

Woodward saw Captain Bradley Brian standing behind a star map. He had a solemn face and was waiting for the squads to line up. The man had deep green eyes, relatively shallow sockets, a clean shaven face, and lips that never smiled. It was a face that easily left an impression.

"At ease soldiers"

At the command, the squads relaxed. The captain then continued to point through a large window located at the side of the room. It had a large view, the other battlecruiser in complete sight with beams of intense light running up and down the ship.

"As you can clearly see, there is a Dominion battlecruiser out there, and it's out of commission. We've tried making contact, but all their communication systems are either malfunctioning or dead, there's nothing. I want you three squads to board the ship and provide us with information on what the _hell_ happened in there. If it's the Zerg, get out, and we'll blast the ship to high hell, if it's the rebels, blow those pansies back to wherever they came from. Move it!"

The order was followed with more orders as each respective squad leader instructed their members to suit up. Excitement was evident.

"Alright, yeah! Let's roll!"

"Time to get us some action man!"

"Hell yeah! It's about time!"

Woodward followed behind Corporal Fox as the squad jogged to the armory. The other squads followed suit. As they all entered the room, they immediately began to suit up. Woodward walked through a narrow hall into a small room, as did every other marine. He walked up to a platform, and awaiting him was the protective plating of a standard marine powered boot. He stepped into them, and they clinked mechanically as the room's engine started to run. A loud whirring began, and robotic arms attached to the walls extended themselves. Smaller mechanized arms reached down from the ceiling, and held his arms up.

The entire process was automated; the arms began to piece together his suit, and weld him in. Woodward cracked his neck, and clenched his fists. It was finally time get some action. His armour was black, with the words Nile painted across the shoulders. As the chest plate was emplaced, the spinal latches locked him in. The knee plates were set in place, and the cold fusion reactors slid into the chest, expelling cold mist and a pleasant hiss. The automated arms brought him the large armoured gloves, which extended his reach by a full half foot, and he grabbed the controls within, as exterior shielding was welded on. Kevin flexed the powered fingers and turned his wrists a few times.

It sure felt damn good being in one of these babies again. Finally, the boot locks were released, and he stepped back. The arms retreated themselves, and awaited the next marine. Kevin made his way out of the room, just as everyone else was stepping out. His entire squad was themed black, with the word "Nile" representing them on the shoulders.

Summers rotated his arms a bit, "Sure feels good!"

"I hear ya!" Someone else shouted. Woodward and his squad advanced to the on board rail system, with the other squads tailing them. They walked single file down a few narrow corridors and shortly arrived at a long room. While waiting for the on-board transport trolleys to arrive, Kevin looked around. It wasn't the first time he had been in the room; there were many other occasions in which he was transported to the deployment bay, where he would be sent off on a mission with his squad. The room was brightly lit, with lights lining the ceiling. It almost looked like a subway station, except without the benches, the pillars, or the litter.

After only a moment, Kevin could hear the trolleys. They slid smoothly into the station, three of them. Alpha squad filed into the first trolley, with Juno in the third. Nile filed into the second trolley, in between the other two. They each grabbed onto a pole for support. Not a minute later, the magnetically propelled trolleys began accelerating with surprising speed, with only a pleasant hum.

In a moment's notice, the trolleys began to slow again, having arrived at the deployment bay. The squads rushed out. Awaiting them was a large door, and a few crew members operating the bridge.

Kevin squeezed his gun, he only hoped that whatever awaited them on the other side of the bridge, which connected the two ships, was nothing but a bunch of crazy rebels which he could shoot up, then leave. His gut told him otherwise.

The deployment gate slid out of view, and the squads sprinted into the bridge. It was quiet except for the heavy footfalls of the metallic boots, and the hydraulics of the suits. Kevin could hear the gates lock back up behind him. They all slowed to a walk as they neared the other side of the bridge, which had overridden the lock on the other cruiser.

The gates groaned, and Kevin expected them to open up at any opportunity, but they remained airtight shut. The voice of a crew member echoed the bridge as he explained what happened. "Seems like we have a small problem, we've overridden the locking mechanism on the gate, but it appears that the lock just jammed up, you'll have to manually force your way in."

As if on cue, a member from Juno stepped forward, and brought out a tool that Kevin had never seen before. He forced it in between the seal of the door, and flicked a switch. Sparks began to flicker left and right from the tool, as the man began pulling the device downward with both hands. A squealing noise was produced as the lock was being cut through. A few seconds passed, and then marine backed up.

"It's open."

Juno's squad leader stepped up and turned back to look at each of the squads, quickly looking each in the eyes to gain their attention. "Alright men, we ready to do this? On the other side of that door, lies three hallways, straight forward is the trolley transport system, to the left leads to the hammerhead of the ship, and to the right leads to the rear. Since the power is down, the trolleys are useless, so my squad will advance left to the hammerhead. You guys head down to the right, and split up later. We don't know what's in there, so stay frosty. Keep your com-links on private channels and only switch to an open channel when you need immediate backup from the nearest squad." The lieutenant switched the safety on his gun off. "Alright soldiers, visors down, weapons checked, let's do this."

He whirled around and kicked down the gates. They busted off with a loud ringing of metal bouncing off the neosteel interior and immediately, the three squads stormed in to secure the deployment bay of the cruiser. It was pitch black within, and the squads switched on their chest installed lights. The deployment bay looked normal. Juno squad immediately began moving down the left corridor after confirming that it was clear.

Alpha and Nile squad advanced down the right corridor, which shortly branched off into two corridors.

Sergeant Summers halted, "Alright, I'll take my boys down this hall; you guys go up that one, good luck soldiers."

With those brief words, the two squads separated. Sergeant Summers led the squad, his gun at the ready. They briefly walked down the narrow hall before turning a corner, revealing some working lights. They blinked on and off uncertainly, a door ended their path. A sign above it displayed the words "medical bay." Fortunately, the doors still seemed to be functional, running on backup power. Sergeant Summers signaled his squad. Kevin nodded to himself, as he and the rest of the squad prepared to secure the room. Summers pressed the door switch, and it slid open, the squad charged in. Forming a defensive position around Summers, the squad faced all directions in the center of the room. What their chest-lights revealed was death and destruction.

Medical apparatuses were broken, sheets were torn, and there were huge gouges on the wall. The floors and walls were painted with blood and the stretchers and beds were filled with victims. Some had organs spilling out their stomach and onto the floor; others had dismembered limbs and severed heads. A few were hanging on the walls, spines protruding from their body, heads hanging down. The acid which coated the spines left nothing but the bones on some bodies.

Kevin nearly threw up. It was a horrific sight, and he only thanked that he couldn't smell it. Another private voiced his fear, "Holy shit sarge; I ain't never seen shit like this before man…"

"Private, you get used to this shit after a while. First time you see a body all cut up, you lose your lunch, second time, you're concerned, after a while- you just walk right over it. Alright men, we know that this shit isn't the rebels, let's alert the other squads and get the hell out of-"

The Sergeant was cut off as an inhuman shriek pierced the air. It would have been deafening if it weren't for the filters that the suits provided. The men turned around to face the door they had just entered through. More shrieks echoed the room. Summers wasted no time hesitating, "We've got hostiles, let's get the hell out of here, everyone move to the back of the medical bay, there should be another door there, run! **move it!**"

Kevin had no problems following orders. He ran. Lights from the suit were revealing different areas of the room as Kevin and the squad ran, and every spot they revealed was chaos. As Kevin sprinted, he saw a large hole torn in the floor ahead of the Sergeant, and something spiny slithered within.

"Sarge! Jump, NOW!" Just as the Sergeant was about to step over the hole, he threw himself to the side. Instantly, a Zerg Hydralisk emerged from the hole and leapt at a Corporal Fox, the nearest prey. Kevin, who was behind her, could not fire because she blocked his view. His heart froze as he thought the inevitable would happen. However, private Evans who had been running alongside Rosa fired some blessed bullets which kicked his heart back into action. The room flashed brightly as dozens of jacketed rounds tore straight through the Hydralisk, the force of the attack propelling the creature sideways and slamming it into the wall. Its screech faded away, but they still had company.

More Hydralisks slithered around the entrance of the bay, at first slowly, as if to instill fear in the men. But soon, they began to snake their way towards their prey at an alarming rate.

"We're not done for yet soldiers keep your asses running! And nice shooting private!" The Sergeant fired a few rounds at the entrance, and turned to start running. A couple shots missed, but one managed to slam into the forehead carapace of the leading Hydra. It coiled down in reaction to the hit, and screamed in what appeared to be rage. Although the heavy slug did some damage, it was not enough. The Hydralisk was not deterred and it resumed slithering along with the rest, blood leaking from its wound and drool dripping from its mouth.

The Hydralisks kept pouring through the door, and one tore its way through the walls to confront them. It hissed menacingly and opened its flaps ready to fire. Unable to slow down his momentum, Kevin, who ended up at the front, ran full force into the Hydralisk. The critter was fully two feet taller than him, and it was definitely heavy. However, the CMC-powered armour was dutifully five hundred pounds heavy itself, and it managed to knock the Hydralisk into the ground. Woodward fell down on top of the serpent-like creature. Without thinking, he immediately jammed them muzzle of the gun full force into the monster's mouth, and pulled the trigger. Its head was blown to pieces in a display of blood, gore, and ichor. It didn't even have time to scream or hiss. The muscles relaxed as the creature's life diminished, and Woodward quickly resumed running, now slightly behind Summers.

The squad didn't have time to share words; they quickly reached the doors at the other end and slammed on the switch. The door opened without incident and they entered yet another hall. It was lit with a dark emergency light; the hall was bathed in a deep red glow. Kevin's heart was pounding heavily; it was the only thing he could hear. Just as he was about to catch up with his squad, who was only slightly ahead of him, the world beneath him was lost.

The reinforced plating of the floor had been considerably weakened, unknown to them. As each member of Nile stormed through the hall, the floor was slammed on by heavy boots, one at a time. It wasn't Kevin's luck, as he took his next step, the floor beneath him caved in, and he fell into blackness.

"Gaah, fuuuuuuck!" each member heard his voice as he pummeled into the floor beneath. The squad turned around, and saw the huge hole in the floor, and Kevin nowhere to be seen.

Private Angel voiced his concern, "Oh bloody shit, Kevin just fell down a shitty hole, we gotta get him out man!" Unfortunately, the Hydralisks had finally made it into the hall, and if they didn't keep running, they'd be eating spines for dinner. Summers was concerned for Kevin, but it was evident that there was no saving him, not with the situation that they were in.

"Too late soldiers, keep moving, we'll keep audio contact with Kevin if he's not dead by now down there, he's a seasoned soldier, don't worry about it" he lied.

Smith shouted, "We can't just fucking leave him down there man!"

"Listen soldier, there are probably a dozen of those Zerg critters right behind us, we'll all be as dead as this ship if we don't move our asses now! Get to it! We'll see what we can do later, right now, just bloody run!"

--

Kevin shook his head, the suit protected him from the fall, but he lost his weapon along the way. Getting up, he immediately realizing what had just happened. "Guys! I'm alive! It's dark as hell, and my chest lights alone don't reveal enough for me to see clearly."

There was a bit of static, and a voice filled his helm. "Good to hear that you're alive soldier, we're still running from them Zerg, in fact, I'd just go about as far as saying you're in a better position than us right now!"

Summers was panting, "Maintain audio contact and we'll eventually find a way to meet up… until then, stay frosty."

"Yes sir!" Kevin looked around; the room was unfamiliar to him. Swiveling around to survey the area, he turned around to see a wall, and a dead body nailed to it by dozens of spines, the head- faceless. Kevin got a firsthand look at half the person's brain. "Oh **fuc**- Jesus christ!" He nearly screamed.

Taking heavy deep breaths, Kevin turned away. _First things first_, _I have to find my rifle or I'm a dead man,_ he thought, a grim expression on his face. As Kevin began looking around the floor for his weapon, he gained more visual on his surroundings. It appeared to be one of the restrooms of the cruiser. There was blood smeared on the mirrors in horror-movie fashion, and pools of blood on the floor. Woodward was disgusted, but he finally spotted his gun. It had slid into the corner of the room when he fell, and he could still hear the screams of the Hydralisks above him fading away as they pursued the rest of his squad. Just as he was about to move for his gun he decided against it instead, and froze. There was a low hiss in the air, and then a snarl. Just his luck, another Hydralisk, and he didn't even have his weapon. Thinking fast, he quickly shut off the lights on his chest and it left him completely in the dark.

"Infrared" he whispered to his suit. His visor immediately changed to obey his command and he maintained absolutely frozen as he saw a deep red figure slither into the room. Just to his right, was a small blur; it was his gun, heat still emanating from it after he had killed the Hydra back in the medical bay, the blood of the serpent still fresh and warm on the barrel.

It would only be seconds before the thing bumped into him, and diced him into mince meat, so Woodward acted upon his only option. He took a deep breath, and jumped.

To be continued?


End file.
